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| Africa North |
| NTC Fighters Reject Truce Talks with Al Qathafi Loyalists |
| 2011-09-28 |
| [Tripoli Post] There has been heavy fighting ... as opposed to the more usual light or sporadic fighting... in the former Libyan leader Muammar Al Qadaffy's ...Custodian of Wheelus AFB for 42 long years... hometown of Sirte where hundreds of loyalists keep offering strong resistance to defend the city on the Mediterranean coast against the National Transitional Council's fighters, but later in the day there were reports indicating that an elder from inside the city talked about a truce, that was however rejected. Touhami Zayani, commander of the El-Farouk brigade on the western edge of Sirte, which is encircled by NTC forces and under bombardment from NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A single organization with differing goals, equipment, language, doctrine, and organization.... warplanes, was reported telling Rooters that he was in talks with Al Qadaffy loyalists about a truce, but the head of another anti-Al Qadaffy unit rejected negotiations. Touhami Zayani, said that an elder from Al Qadaffy's tribe, whom he did not identify, had contacted him on his satellite phone from inside Sirte and told him they were looking for a safe passage for the families and for the militia to leave the city. Zayani said he had given his agreement for families from Al Qadaffy's tribe, who make up the majority of Sirte's population, to be allowed to leave and was still negotiating terms for armed Al Qadaffy loyalists to surrender. "We didn't really get into details and we didn't talk much about how they will leave but I think the scenario will be that they have to give up their weapons," Zayani said. Asked about the prospect of a truce, another commander in the anti-Al Qadaffy ranks, Omar Al-Qatrany, who is on the eastern front line, said: "Those people don't want to negotiate and we don't care about them any more. Our main concern is to evacuate families out of Sirte and then we will bomb the city." Foe the second day, despite efforts to push forward from the east of the center of Sirte, anti-Al Qadaffy fighters were pinned down by intense sniper and artillery fire, and a Rooters correspondent reported, that NTC forces brought up reinforcements to a roundabout two kilometres from the centre. In an effort to break through they attacked with two tanks and about a dozen trucks carrying infantry. Later, Al-Jazeera reported that NTC fighters had taken control of the eastern portion of Sirte, which is 450 km east of Tripoli, and would bring Libya's new rulers closer to gaining control of the whole country, if they manage to capture it. It would certainly be a huge symbolic victory. Libya's new rulers are under pressure to bring the fighting to an end. Humanitarian organizations have raised the alarm over conditions for civilians in Sirte and in Bani Walid, which lies southeast of Tripoli. Scores of civilians in cars laden with personal belongings streamed out of Sirte to both the east and west over the past few days, with Georges Comninos, who heads the International Committee of the Red Thingy (ICRC) in Libya saying they were very concerned about the people inside and near Bani Walid and Sirte. |
| Posted by:Fred |